


Frankenstein is the Doctor

by NotWeird



Series: OCs For The Ages (RWBY) [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: 40 years before canon, AKA Penny's dad, Arthur Watts backstory, Dr De Sena was his mentor/mother figure, Dr Watts used to be a smarmy grad student, Epistolary, Gen, Mentor/Protégé, Politics in Academia, Pre-Canon, Prosthetics, Science, Story told through journal entries, Worldbuilding, technically connected to my Cobwebs and Crows story??, then she died lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-08-01 04:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16277708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotWeird/pseuds/NotWeird
Summary: ... but he's a monster too. Arthur Watts was a disgraced Atlesian scientist- but how did he get there? A story of his journey from smarmy grad student working in a mechanical engineering lab to grieving, almost mad-scientist told via journal entries from his mentor's pen.[I love background characters  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ]





	Frankenstein is the Doctor

**Author's Note:**

> Keep your eyes peeled for references to canon characters outside of Watts! Also, IDK when the kingdom of Mantle became the kingdom of Atlas, but let's assume that's a recent thing in canon. 
> 
> If Doctor Arthur Watts isn't based off of Doctor Frankenstein I will eat boiled leather shoes stitch by stitch.

**Excerpts from the personal journal (XIV-XVI) of Dr. Arlinde De Sena, accessed from the ATLAS LIBRARY OF SCIENCE AND MATH ARCHIVES. Personnel code: 865942.**

**Thursday, April 4th 46 AW**

J has accepted a promising new batch of graduate students for the upcoming summer term. One especially has caught my eye, a young mister Arthur who is tall and thin to the point of lankiness with a penchant for wearing mustard yellow sweatshirts. He posed interesting questions which reveal that he has dedicated serious time into researching topics on his own, though they have the faintest tinge of ignorance. I would have lent him literature on the matter to better round out his knowledge base, but unfortunately there was insufficient time to do much of anything aside from a brief introduction. No matter, he and the other students will be spending nearly all their time here in the hotter months and I am sure that between cleaning, fetching, and observing we will find some downtime to discuss his ideas. I do hope none of J’s mentees think they will be doing serious work until they’ve proven themselves a better bunch than his last disastrous few!

In other news, my darling sofralia [1] will soon be arriving in Mantle and I will need to arrange for a proper escort for them before Slate gets it into his thick head that…

 _Archivist note [1]: sofralia= niece(s)/nephew(s)_  
-

**Tuesday, August 20th 46 AW**

There was a bit of a meltdown in the lab today concerning the sort of work the graduates envisioned themselves doing versus what they have done. It was a long time coming, though I must admit I had hoped the students would recognize that their menial tasks were important to the overall project. Sadly, that was not to be. 

It started when the tallest (and quietest) of the group- Arthur- inquired when they would move onto more “substantial” work. Of course, J feels that every part is substantial, perfectionist that he is, so this didn’t exactly go over well and neither did the fact that the rest of the graduates agreed with Arthur. I’ve never seen J so flustered! After some false starts, J regained control of his runaway tongue and informed the students that the so called “substantial” work wouldn’t begin until September at the very earliest. They were, of course, upset over this and J faced a small mutiny but he stayed his ground and while one student quit after a very heated argument, the rest eventually came to a sort of understanding. 

The whole situation makes me thankful that my own graduate and post-doc are away on vacation and that neither is given to such displays. 

-

**Friday, January 16th 48 AW**

Work has resumed on J’s projects after the loss of one of his graduates following a tragic accident over winter break. The loss of such a bright, promising young mind reminds me of… [the passage is marred by dried splotches of salt water. It talks of a funeral and the student’s family, then the research position they held.] ... the lackluster conclusion of J’s previous project and this unfortunate start bodes ill for his continued support from the military. They wish to see results that simply don’t exist at this current moment in time and I fear that they may try to replace J if he cannot give them something soon. 

I hope for his sake that the upcoming round of testing proves as revolutionary as he’s advertised, or I may lose my oldest colleague to the short temper of General Niebieski. 

Contrary to the ill-fortune of J, my own work has been progressing at a favorable pace. My graduate, Hominy, is in charge of compiling and processing the data from our latest study. I will of course check over her work, but I am confident that I will find no noteworthy errors. She has been such a great help to me these last four years that I am somewhat reluctant to let her go- Aura as a field of study is so small and it really is difficult to find good help… [There is some discussion on the job prospects of Hominy and a few rumors on research currently being done by other labs.] 

Note to self: see if J’s student Arthur can come in and look at the computer. It has been slow lately, even more so than usual. 

-

**Wednesday, September 1st 48 AW**

Today I finished the last edit of my paper on the effects of methylxanthines on aura production and sent it off to the publisher for the last time before it is printed! Two years of work have gone into the experiments alone, not to mention the pre-planning, design, board certification, ethics check and so much more. I am thankful that it is finally finished as it has lifted some of the weight off my shoulders. The only thing left to do now is wait for the release and peer-reviews, which has my stomach in nerves but I am positive that the strength of my work will allow it to withstand criticism. 

Special thanks were given to Arthur, who has been incredibly helpful with the many tech issues I faced during the duration of the project, and I intend to invite him to a celebratory dinner alongside my other staff. He is close to attaining his Master’s and could use a night off if his surly attitude lately is any indication… [There is some fond reminiscing of her doctoral thesis, followed by a discussion of Hominy’s recently obtained doctorate.] I will need to find more graduates to fill the space she left, and find out if Arthur is willing to do some post-doc work in my lab. Although, if he stays on with J, I will have no need to do so. Our upcoming project will be one of the first attempts (if not the first) to merge aura with machinery in the form of aura-receptive prosthetics and his double bachelors on top of his up-coming masters make him a prime candidate for the job. 

If J and I could make this work, this could revolutionize not only the field of medical engineering, but also everyday life. Imagine, journal mine, what this could do for the hundreds of Hunters out of a job because of the dangers in their line of work- or the many children it could empower to work past their disabilities and regain independence away from vaguely flesh-toned silicone covers on aluminum and steel limbs with limited function? Whole limbs restored where before there was only empty space… [There is further discussion on the implications of realistic looking, fine-motor skills oriented prosthesis on society].

-

**Journal (XV)**

**Tuesday, June 13th 50 AW**

It has been a whirlwind year. Between submitting designs and getting approval from the board to begin production on a select few models, with no word back yet about test subjects despite our best efforts, I have had little time to focus on the simpler things in life. Thankfully yesterday Arthur recognized the flurry I was working myself into and suggested that I take off for a mid-afternoon coffee while he updated the computers in my stead. [She rambles for half a page about how difficult work has been lately now that Hominy is gone. She mentions, in detail, how she accidentally deleted an entire folder of data and drafts for a grant proposal. Then she talks about Arthur’s skill with the machines and how having him around to help has made her life less stressful.] 

He has been so excited for this project and it really shows in his work ethic- not that he was anything close to a slouch before- but there is a renewed vigor in him and when I check the logs I see that he stays very late every day. I reminded him that taking a break would benefit him as well, and as promised we went out for lunch today. He was as gentlemanly as his recent change in wardrobe suggests and it warms my heart to see the upcoming generation of scientists coming into their own. I remember very clearly the quiet, surly boy who walked into my lab with a garish yellow sweatshirt and excitement in his every question… My, how the time flies! Anyways, over lunch we discussed the theoretical foundation of the project, and though I had to fill in some gaps in his knowledge about the mechanisms behind aura, it was wonderfully productive and has allowed me to come at some problems I’ve been having with fresh eyes. I suppose that taking my own advice has worked out quite well and I ought to schedule another outing like this in the near future… [Talk switches to Hominy’s upcoming wedding, which she had been putting off until she could add “Dr.” to the wedding invitations in place of “Mrs.”.] 

-

**Wednesday, October 22nd 50 AW**

Though he is quite young, Arthur has yet again proven his brilliance- or should I say, Mr. Watts has proven his brilliance? I am overjoyed at the news and while he is still fairly quiet, I know that he is too. There was a period of time where he was sullen and sulky from when the panel tore into his thesis (I had suggested edits to him but he didn’t take the criticism well) and it seemed like he was on the verge of being shut down but his work pulled through. [There is some discussion of Arthur’s thesis and how it relates to the research he is doing under Joseph “J” Polendina. The writing shifts to the latest developments in the joint De Sena-Polendina project.] We have received word back from the General himself that there are six total volunteers fit to our specifications, and we are allowed to work with all six of them. I highly doubt our prototype prosthesis will affect their blood glucose levels, but the board was very clear about the need to account for every variable so we will have to check. These poor soldiers will lose quite a bit of blood before the day is out and run through every possible test we could conceive of, but from what my nephew has told me they will care little about how much they resemble lab rats if it means regaining total use of their limbs. 

They don’t come in until tomorrow, but the lab is already prepped and it is quite odd to have a heart monitor and treadmill in my otherwise treadmill-less room. If anything, it reminds me that I need to work out more and pencil in a doctor’s appointment for myself soon. Forty five is not old, no matter what J says when he teases me over the newest greys in my hair, and I have at least a dozen and a half good years left in me but that will only be so if I take better care. Perhaps I can ask one of the two dieticians attached to the project to formulate a wholesome meal regime for me? [She continues to ramble about her health, her family’s health, and the newest military mandates about the types of vaccines needed for continued employment. She is especially excited about the developments concerning the MMR vaccine due to a loss of an older sister in early childhood due to the disease.]

-

**Journal (XVI)**

**Monday, February 5th 51 AW**

A new year, a new journal. Oh I have amassed quite the collection, haven’t I? Between these personal writings and my work-oriented ones, I think I have nearly as many as I have years! 

Work has been progressing smoothly on the prosthetic project. All six subjects have been tested beyond measure in every possible metric, their residual limbs have been fitted with mock-ups, and all that is left is to await the last of the prototypes. The mock-ups are plastic shells with basic string mechanisms in place which offers little fine motor control but is sufficient enough to open doors and the like. They’re incredibly light and quite brittle, so two of our subjects have already broken theirs but J had back-ups so not all hope is lost. To help with the problem of them being too light, we have secured socks filled with sand to the walls until they weigh roughly the same as a normal arm. Unfortunately, the prototypes are heavier than that but we needed some way to get the subjects to the weight and this was the best could come up with. 

Arthur was quite confused about the reasoning behind giving them plastic limbs where previously they had aluminum and steel, and I could understand where he was coming from but-

Entirely unbidden, his eyes unfocused at the memory played in his mind’s theater.

_“Plastic cannot conduct aura,” he argued. “While aluminum has minimal conductivity, when mixed with steel it more closely resembles that of the alloys used in the prosthetic.”_

_“Yes, but we aren’t trying to mimic the conductivity,” she rebutted. “This is just a stopgap until everything is built. It’s much cheaper to do this than it would be to have them all fitted with shiny new metal limbs that they’ll have to discard in a few months’ time.” Her tone was faintly patronizing in a way that he would have lashed out against had anyone else had used it._

_“That doesn’t change the fact that these stopgaps are too light,” he pushed. “The subjects’ residual limbs need to be conditioned to carry the weight of the prototypes or the data may not consistent.”_

_“You are entirely correct my dear,” she conceded. “But that would require more check-ins than are already scheduled and there is simply no time to spare. Everyone we could have assigned to the problem is focused on building and testing right now in preparation for the demonstration for General Niebieski, which has already been pushed back as far as it can be before he departs for vacation.”_

_He scowled. “Why should we cater to that buffoon’s timetable?”_

_“Arthur,” she chastised with a frown. “I know he is unpleasant but his approval means continued funding for the project.”_

_“Politics should have no place in science,” he picked up his cup of lukewarm tea._

_“It shouldn’t,” she agreed. “But the reality of the situation is that plays a key role in determining if you and I will continue to have work, future Dr. Watts.” She grinned teasingly. “Now, why don’t you tell me about this new grant you’re working on- something about integrated whosit or whatsit?”_

_He shot her an annoyed glare out of the corner of his eye and cleared his throat, prepared to run her through his proposal once again. Honestly, she wasn’t yet old enough to be nearly this forgetful naturally…_

Arthur shook his head to clear it of old memories. The old bat’s propensity to ramble was incredibly infectious if merely reading her journals was enough to set his mind off on a tangent. He refocused on the screen in front of him in search for any hint of the knowledge he was seeking. She had to have written about their conversation somewhere in these dratted things- she wrote about damn near everything else! Despite her tendency to focus on unnecessary things, she had been a true master of her field and no one yet had stepped up to fill the gap she left, so this was his best hope. He just needed one last thing if his experiment was to succeed…

**Author's Note:**

> Justification for giving him two bachelors: i felt like it lol  
> (Also: not only did he make the Black Queen virus, he's in charge of making a new tail for Tyrian and that requires some serious skill in both coding and engineering so fite me if you disagree) 
> 
> In case it wasn't obvious, Joseph "J" Polendina is Penny's dad and he got his start in making human-like android tech by making aura-receptive prosthetics (I assume not every material can take aura without breaking so???). One of his early test subjects is James Ironwood, though he's just a random soldier at this point and not a General or Headmaster. 
> 
> Headcanon that Watts fell from grace because he made the aura transfer machine and killed a test subject by ripping out their soul and shoving it into an android (either Penny or one of the PENNY prototypes) and since Atlas/Mantle couldn't just admit they fucced up, they blamed him and continued work on PENNY b/c cute robot girls i guess ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
